Sprint Cup, Track Trash

Track Trash … da Vegas thang

Monday, March 12, 2012 144 reads
Racing Maniac

Dodge ‘em:   The preview of next year’s Dodge was diminished by the fact that perhaps only RoboGordo will be using it.  That is….if he can survive for another year (con’t)…

Heaps,

RM

Dodge ‘em (con’t):   Robo failed to make the Vegas race, so there are grey clouds hovering over his garage.   But just imagine Dodge spending all that money, and no one shows up for their birthday party.   Exiting stage left looks more appealing as time goes by.

Grey clouds:   While we’re on the subject, das Knaus is about to learn his fate.   He must’ve had a ‘bad hair’ weekend in anticipation of his ‘trial’, cuz JJ slapped the wall in practice and had to start in the rear.   Thus Hendrick began the Vegas race with bookends:  Kasey on the pole, and JJ bringing up the rear.

Chicken bones:   SMI reported their attendance was steady, but ticket revenues were down.   Yeah, we’re still going to the races, but this time we’re sitting in the chicken bone section.  Hey….we’ve gotta cut down our expenses somewhere.   But it’s pretty humiliating to sit there and have greasy drumsticks thrown your way.   And sometimes they’re the large turkey drumsticks that can whop you up side yer head.   Ouuuch.

Da race:   Jr. looked like he was shot out of a cannon during the first 45 laps, leading the race to (finally) please his fans.   But alas, when he lost the lead he never got it back.   In the meantime, JJ had to start in the rear, but by lap 103 he snuck his way up to the lead.  Teammate Kasey lost the lead on the first lap and never again was in strong contention.   Gordo had a bad hair day, but somehow managed to finish in 12^th place.

The Nerd:   All day long, Paul Meynerd drove one of the best races in a long time.   Most of the race he was strongly in the top 10.  Got to admit that when he first entered the big leagues, I didn’t give him much of a chance to make something of himself.   But it turns out he’s been an excellent student, and has learned the lessons well.   I don’t think he had a scratch on his car.

Toward the end:   A number of restarts were blown when the second place car spun their tires.   Smoke always chose the lower position, which seemed to make his restart a lot easier (at least it seemed that way to the casual observer).

Weird:   Weird that Kvapil blew his engine on lap 127, and his teammate Cassill blew his with 23 laps to go.    Weird that das Kurt blew his LR tire with 12 to go, and Kyle blew his LR tire 4 laps later.

Kudos:  to the Stewart/Haas teammates, and several of the Roush boys finished in the top 5.   To JamieMac, who was under the weather but still ran a good race.    Good to see TrevorBayne in the top 10 (we need to see a lot more of this dude, but it all revolves around sponsorship).

Heaps of 3’s all over yer local Office Depot,

Racing Maniac  #3